PIAA-6A First Round: Perkiomen Valley boys basketball falls to Roman Catholic in state opener

PHILADELPHIA >> Perkiomen Valley had a difficult time getting any shots off against Roman Catholic’s tough man-to-man defense early in its PIAA Class 6A boys basketball opening round contest on Saturday afternoon. And when the Vikings did manage to put up a shot, it usually missed the mark.

On the other hand, the Cahillites rarely missed, and that created a one-sided score in the first quarter that got completely out of hand in the second, and Roman Catholic cruised to a 70-31 win at West Philadelphia High School.

That sends the Cahillites into the final 16 in the state and a game on Wednesday at a time and place to be determined against Lower Merion, a 65-58 winner over Williamsport.

Sebastian Edwards scored a game-high 15 points for District 12 champion Roman Catholic (24-3), Robert Cottrell followed with 14 and Xzayvier Brown added 13. Kyle Shawaluk and Julian Sadler each scored eight for Perk Valley (18-11), which came in as the No. 11 team from District 1.

“We picked a heck of a night to go cold shooting and they had a lot to do with that,” Vikings coach Mike Poysdon said.

Cottrell knocked down a 3-pointer from the left corner, Brown made two free throws and 6-foot-7 sophomore Shareef Jackson (6 points, 13 rebounds) put in a layup for a quick 7-0 Cahillites lead. Shawaluk finally got the Vikings on the scoreboard with a 3-pointer from the left corner four minutes into the contest.

But Cottrell connected for three again from the right corner and knocked down another try from the top of the circle and Sammy Jackson launched a successful 3-pointer from the left corner to make it 16-3 on the way to a 19-7 advantage by the end of the quarter.

That included 4-for-4 shooting from 3-point range by Cottrell.

“They were just there today,” the 5-foot-11 junior guard said concerning the long-range opportunities.

And that was only the beginning for the Cahillites as they ran off 18 straight points to start the second quarter before Morgan McKinney scored inside off a pass from Shawaluk with 1:35 remaining until the half.

Roman Catholic shot 15-for-24 from the floor in the first half, which included nine 3-pointers, while the Vikings were just 5-for-25. That added up to a 43-11 score, putting the running clock rule into effect the rest of the way.

“We weren’t quite comfortable,” Poysden said concerning the Vikings’ offense. “We expected that, but these kids make those shots during the season.”

Poysden noted that the Vikings’ defense was designed to try to stop Brown, Anthony Finkley and Shareef Jackson.
“We keyed on their three stars, but the other guys can play too,” he said.

William Felder added 10 points and eight rebonds for Roman Catholic, which finished at 63.6 percent shooting from the floor (28-for-44) to go with a 39-15 advantage on the boards.

“It was playing defense, locking on defense,” Cottrell said concerning his team’s success on Saturday.
And as far as the season goes, the Cahillites have applied the same formula along with some intangible qualities.

“We have chemistry on and off the court,” Cottrell added. “We’re playing hard, working hard and locking in at every practice.”

The Vikings will return four of their starters and most of their roster next year, losing seniors Luke Hansen, J.T. Brady, Shane Nelson, Hadi Iskandarani and McKinney.

“We’re hoping to build on this,” Poysden said. “You have to learn from this. We’ll see what we can do next year.”

Roman Catholic 70, Perkiomen Valley 31

Perkiomen Valley: Harken 2 0-0 5, Thear 2 1-2 5, Hansen 0 0-0 0, Rodriguez 0 0-0 0, Brady 0 0-0 0, Hollingsworth 0 0-0 0, Strechay 0 0-0 0, Sadler 3 0-0 8, Wagoner 0 2-2 2, Murphy 0 0-0 0, Shawaluk 3 0-0 8, Nelson 0 0-0 0, McKinney 1 1-2 3, Tagert 0 0-0 0, Totals 11 4-6 31
Roman Catholic: Brown 4 4-4 13, Cottrell 5 0-0 14, Finkley 1 0-0 2, Hillman 1 0-0 2, Ezeukwu 1 0-3 2, Felder 5 0-1 10, Edwards 6 0-0 15, Sa Jackson 2 0-0 6, Sh Jackson 3 0-0 6, Totals 28 4-8 70
Perkiomen Valley 7 4 6 14 – 31
Roman Catholic 19 24 12 15 – 70
3-point goals: Harken, Sadler 2, Shawaluk 2, Brown, Cottrell 4, Edwards 3, Sa Jackson 2